Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Brett Ritchie's Monster Weekend Leads to NHL Callup

Henrik Kiviaho assigned to ECHL Idaho in unrelated move

(Credit: Josh Huskin)

Big results and an injury in Dallas led to the Dallas Stars first call up of the year for forward Brett Ritchie. The second year pro had a five goal weekend and was named the AHL's Player of the Week on Monday.

Shawn Horcoff was ill this morning and was doubtful for tonight's game against the Coyotes. Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said "another player" was also iffy with injury. Looks like they decided to pull the trigger on Ritchie to compensate.

Ritchie skated a full practice this morning for Texas.

In an unrelated move, the Texas Stars returned goalie Henrik Kiviaho to the Idaho Steelheads. Kiviaho backed up Jussi Rynnas on Sunday.

7 comments:

I hate Dallas. I'm sure they will take a minute to assign us a guy from the NAHL or USPHL. Them buying Texas will be a disaster, they can't even get a good product in Dallas, they have no chance at doing it in Cedar Park.

Carl, Are you this negative about everything? Dallas won 6-0 last night, and 5 of the 6 goal scorers played in Cedar Park at one point. Get off your high horse, and understand what a development team is for.

I haven't been all that negative, and have defended certain elements of the organization when it's deserved. . However when Dallas has taken so much from Cedar Park this year and really didn't prepare them for it going into the season despite knowing the likelihood of needing to lean on them, Dallas deserves criticism. Dallas is responsible for every-bit of what is in Cedar Park now, gone are the days where the Texas Stars GM can use the defense he only has "a few" roster spots to work with (which was used in 2011 btw). Please tell me how Dallas prepared Cedar Park this year, they bought in Rallo...and...who?

For the record I used to like Dallas but years of being ran poorly have turned me off them. And I could care less if they won 6-0, first of all they aren't that good of a team (they won't make the playoffs), second I don't care all that much how they do regardless.

And, "High Horse"? What does that mean? Make a comment on a message board your on a "High Horse"..should all comments be cleared through you from here on out?

As for below, no it's not that different than some of the other AHL teams...but your comment implies all AHL teams are well ran, which most aren't. Last I checked the teams that had a history of being better ran where more often than not, not owned by the NHL team.

Bottom line, those players are Dallas property and only a few truly belong to Cedar Park. They have two-way contracts owned by the NHL club, and they can do whatever they want. To them, the AHL is their warm-up pen, and that isn't going to change no matter who is in charge or what team it is.

Very true. But they now own a AHL franchise and it's fair to judge them on their ability to manage it. Just because Dallas is "Dallas" doesn't dissolve the inherent responsibilities it takes on to It's Cedar Park season ticket holders. I mean when I'm sold on the benefits of having season tickets they do boast Dallas Stars Prospects, do they not? I don't recall at any point in the six seasons being told it may be an off year or we may actually have more ECHL talent on the team than even AHL, much less NHL.

I've said this before (in case you missed it) I'm okay with them having an off season given they are a successful organization. That however doesn't mean we cant talk about or criticize bad moves. And I think this year they went into the season unprepared for success.

I think when you buy season tickets to a minor league franchise, you know what you are getting. I have tickets on the glass this year. Do I want our bet guys to come back? Heck yes! But I understand that they may come back for good, may bounce back and forth all year, or may never come back. That's the minors. In every sport.

I don't think this is different than any other AHL team, it is just that we are in a transition period right now, and trying to establish a winning pattern -- so the disruptions just seem more glaring. But Dallas could and would take those players no matter who owned the Cedar Park organization. It's a really odd dynamic. I imagine that first game Morin is back - the fans will be thrilled, but Morin himself will probably be nothing but disappointed. After all, the NHL is his dream. Go Stars!

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